A Journey to the East
by Nameless Grave
Summary: A journey into the mind of our hero, into the depths of a psyche of a man in love, of a man of responsibility, of a man who finally found happiness and of a man much more to the people than just a voiceless hero. (This is a story I once published under a different name, a very small amount of readers may remember ;)
1. The Life Debt

**Chapter 1: The Life Debt**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Hello, I do not own Zelda.

**Author's Note: **The title is in reference to one of the four great classical novels of Chinese culture, pilgrimage and enlightenment. The term Riskbreaker is from the PSOne classic, _Vagrant Story_, a lovely RPG that also contained one of the most convoluted stories and UI ever to be invented by man. You will see references to Futurama and the Simpsons if you read it correctly. Enjoy.

Link looked down at his hands warily, for he knew in great detail what damage they must have suffered in that last fight. Carefully he unrolled the ravaged bandages that swept its serpentine path up his left arm. Indeed, the injuries were great - deep were the cuts that wounded his flesh and ego. He smirked the mirthless sneer: it was not such a great idea trying out sword techniques that were unpracticed. But, of course, such were the lessons of life - nothing risked, nothing gained, nothing lost. That was the most terrifying thing, he thought to himself.

It had been nearly three months since he and his rag-tag band of misfits set out from the castle. Their original purpose had been to quell a band of insurgents stirring up trouble on the borders of Loki, just a few days west of Hyrule. But each week they were on the road, each battle and each drop of blood shed seemed only to bring them further turmoil. Every would-be ending presented an even larger threat to the throne of Hyrule; indeed, were it comparable to some tangible life form, Link might've considered to call it the "lizard's" way - cut off a limb if you can. But, alas, poor bard, it was the unfortunate life for a Riskbreaker - the obscure and often dangerous brotherhood that Link had signed away his life in blood. It was not for the temptations of adventure and the siren call of chaos that Link had so gladly entered this omnious command. And as simple and, perhaps even trivial as it may seem for the Hero of Time, he had sworn to its allegience only because he was able to swear his loyalty to her throne. In front of her throne, in front of her, in front of such a one that could command his very soul and body - in front of the ultimate siren.

It did not seem enough at times, to marry her and devote her existence above his. That much was simple. Link was a man of loyalty - not quite so different from the officers under his own command. But even their own allegiance was conditional. No, to his wife he was obligated by a higher power: a searing, heart-wrenching abandonment of faith and devotion. That these words we have chosen to describe but an iota of his love to her are themselves pitifully inept. For he was soulbound and such energies spent to properly derive an equation explaining the two of them could not exist in this lifetime.

He turned the palms of his hands upwards, examining the damage once more. They were skilled, to be sure: masterful in the art of war, graceful in the art of craftsmanship, caring as only a true lover's touch could express. But despite all the practice of his years, Link strove only to redefine these hands - for he never thought they were enough to serve Zelda adequately. Sometimes they would make mistakes, sometimes they would tic one way when they should have gone the other. Yes, he punished them severely, but only because he felt such apathy would drive him to become stronger in her eyes. These hands were not his own.

"'Oy, Linky-boy, there be enough time for admiring your dead fans later. 'Git ya arse in gear - the boys are heading to the rallying point, yea?"

That was Vissius Flightknife, the deadliest crack shot with the gun-powder rifle outside of Zelda - the weapon having only been invented that previous winter. He was a chaotic one, that Vissius, and perhaps were it not for his wife, Link might have lived a life akin to Flightknife's - the lonely one that called no man master and no place home.

When they both finally arrived at camp, it was clear that Link had once again advanced too far into the field during that last fight. The insurgents were not strategic fighters, they were not even blessed with finesse or refined by skill. But they came in numbers and as the Riskbreaker squadron were present as only five men, the battle was a much heated one. And yet, perhaps during the foray, Link realized what a great danger they finally faced and he could not stand that he should fail not only his brothers, but his queen in one fell swoop. That was why he charged: the burden must be his if it is any sort of a burden to exist.

In this we see the true nature of the hero. People did not depend on his bravery nearly as much as he depended on them to present him with chances to prove his worth. Indeed, how else could he test the mettle of his hands and skills if not through the fires stoked by the world's endless problems? Yes, thought Link as he met up with the rest of his group, he could not survive - much less find reason in his existence - were it not for his unflinching willingness to help out his brothers, his country and his queen. He was not so much a slave to destiny as he was a servant of life.

"You clowns want to live forever?" he finally asked, night having nearly descended upon them, "Nap time is over. We're heading back with the dusk set."

To this, the raucous bunch groaned loudly:

"He ain't human, he ain't."

"My feet, she needs rest, no?"

"Let's mutiny!"

"'Oy, I should've buried you back there, boy-o."

"I lost the directions back to Hyrule, milord."

"Curious, sirrah, which way is east?"

"A bad case of explosive amnesia, I'm afraid. Yes, quite incapacitated at the moment, commander."

"I've lost my legs in the war, good sir."

Truly, this was torment if it were anything else, not only because it lasted nearly the week and a half it took to journey home, but also because Link too was starting to join in. By the end of the journey, a body could be hardly blamed for suspecting that these were only madmen dressed in warriors' costumes. We may say this because joining the ranks of the Riskbreakers was little less than tantamount to insanity and, apparently, the journey had robbed the men of what was left of their minds.

* * *

"Can't wait to 'git back to yer chicky, can ya, young'un?"

Link turned to see Vissius bringing his horse to a trot next to Epona. He stared at the man wearily before responding with a simple nod. Even that minute action seemed to cause his body to ache.

"Ya haven't been sleeping agin', have ya?" the other man asked, shaking his head slightly, "What manner of fevered dreams have kept ya awake, gunny?"

Our hero stared off into the horizon, where glorious Hyrule had started to show its peaks.

"I can't bring myself to do it, friend. Did you ever have that feeling?"

"Can't say that I have, y'know? We all been sinnin' a little bit too much to feel queasy 'bout goin' to bed wit' a heavy soul, yea?"

Link couldn't help but smirk at that: "Truly, there are only murderers in this group."

"Aye, that be the well spoken. Well have at it, man, what be the problem then?"

"Y'know, before I was with Zelda, I could never bring myself to sleeping with the night fall. I was always so afraid of those dark hours before the light of the next morning. I don't much like the future, Vissius, there are far too many uncertainties. I've always been the old soul, a nostalgic monster that clung to every sentimental piece of drivel I could - because they were the gateways to those simpler days. I never quite understood why people were not more content with what they have as opposed to what they could have. Perhaps, it is because everybody else who lives can only struggle through today in hopes that tomorrow would bring something better. It is such a foolish paradox. I tell you, if I ever meet the person who invented the future, I think I would kill them."

"And, then, when I first started courting her, I would sometimes sneak her out of the castle to Lake Hyrule. Some nights, we would just lay there and I would try to find her a star. Sometimes we would talk until the break of day. After a while, I started realizing how she made such miserable nights that much more able to bear. It hit me all at once: those nights she would guide me towards the next day were painless, some nights I even was able to fall asleep easily next to her. It was cosmic, Vissius: how tragically beautiful this woman had been able to hold my hands and transform those horrible hours before daybreak into an existence worth closing my eyes and enjoying. If not for anything else, I would cherish her forever because she had given me such a gift."

Link turned tiredly to his companion as the Riskbreakers came ever closer to home: "I haven't slept but one or two hours here and there for the last three months, old friend. Some nights I would just wake up for no apparent reason and that would be the end of whatever peace I had that night. I would dearly like to sleep away these next few nights in the angel's wake."

Vissius shook his head ruefully, "Well, that was a might pretty speech, Linky-boy. But I ask you, in all seriousness, why ya would ever think a monster like me'self could understand such pretty boy poetry like that. Ain't that right, gentlemen? Me thinks Link is ill suited for his command in such a state and I propose that we buy him a courtier's dress that he may better write his verse."

At this, the others roared their agreement:

"I t'ink he would lookst most comely in lavender, boys!"

"Aye, a penny for yer services, good wench."

"Did we not see his latest book in the castle's library, gentlemen? It was entitled: "I Was Once a Man."

"It was burned, good sir, because it were offensive to the women folk who read it - they did not want their secrets revealed."

"I picked you some posies, commander."

"My memory isn't what it's supposed to be, sirs, but I believe that book destroyed the entire castle."

* * *

Link dragged his feet tiredly into the castle's grand hall and with a finality that robbed him of the rest of his resolve, plopped himself unceremoniously into an available seat. He had not the time nor patience to drop off his gear with the rest of the group at the barracks. Presently, one of the doormen received Link.

"Milord, shall I inform the lady that you await her?"

The hero kicked back his feet and hugged his sword to his body, his head lulling back in that way that might remind the readers of a dead marionette away from its master's strings.

"Where is she now, Flint?"

"The queen is currently meeting with the heads of State, milord. They are discussing the movement of troops amassing outside of Lordaeron."

At this Link's browed perked up: "Interesting. No, wait, the other word...'tedious.' No, Flint, no need to inform her, I will wait here until the council absolves. Tell me, where is my daughter? I did not see Avalon in the courtyard as I came in."

He was a sly one this Flint. He had served the House of Harkinian for nearly all his life and it took nearly all that experience to prevent him from outright laughing. Instead, only a slight smirk surfaced as his eyes drew themselves to the object behind the great lord of the manor. Link, of course, noticed this immediately:

"What-"

Before he could finish, Link was knocked out of his chair in a maelstrom of blonde curls and daisy crowns.

"Papa, why'd it take you so long to get me a present?"

Link was still silent on the ground, prostrate in that position most unbecoming of the renowned hero, his eyes closed and lips grim. He was a little bit better at playing this game than Flint. Of course, the older man was not going to yield so easily:

"Princess, I believe you have knocked your father unconscious. Might I suggest getting in a kick or two to celebrate?"

Avalon pursed her lips in confusion, but before she could reconsider that comment, her father had risen to the entirety of his six foot frame, slinging her over his shoulders. He pointed accusingly at Flint:

"Have at you, old man! I knew you were always the scheming type, but this slight will not stand. I challenge you to a race around the world. The winner will have the grand prize I brought back, the loser will drink naught but from the chalice of bitter defeat. Also, there will be some humiliation involved. Also, Avalon has volunteered to take my place."

The girl laughed even as she pounded her father's back uselessly: "Papa, I can't race Flint, my legs don't know how to run as fast as his."

"Hah!" Link barked contemptuously, "Who needs legs, dear heart, when you can fly?"

If our hero could see the sudden confusion in his daughter's violet eyes, he might have suffered a broken heart from the innocence of it all.

"Papa, I don't know how to fly yet!"

"Indeed?" Link asked her as he brought the girl down to his eye level, "Well what the bloody well has your mother been teaching you since I've been gone?"

Avalon clapped her hands together wondrously as she practically split with a wide grin: "I can do Magic Missile, papa. Want I should show you?"

"No!" was the wide exclamation of the grand hall, as nearly 20 servants who had witnessed the moment realized what the little girl had just said.

"Well," a surprised Link finally said, "Perhaps when we are not around Mama's expensive pottery, hmm? (And here his eyes, narrowed as he whispered in her ears) Maybe later tonight when the rest of the castle is asleep..."

Before the girl could acquiesce, Link had already swung her back onto his shoulders - this time, in the correct direction: "In the meanwhile, if you're mother was not responsible enough to swing her daughter precariously around the castle to show you the gift of flight, then it shall be up to my own recklessness once again. Off we go, princess, forwards always, towards the utter ruin that your mother ought show me when she finds out I did this!"

And although he had but little rest in the past months, the castle audience saw the young princess fly for nearly half an hour on the back of our hero. Occasionally, he would race up the stairs and jump from precipice to precipice, as elven grace and frivolity are want and capable of doing. For Link, it was but respite for the soul. For with the little wonder that was Avalon, the cosmic union of him and her, came also the dissolution of the day's troubles. Certainly those reasons to worry existed, possibly in some outer shell of reality, but to bring such gloom on an innocent so wonderfully created seemed to him horrible parenting. Truly, in that half hour of existence, the god-child Avalon carried her father more than he carried her.

* * *

Link turned a critical eye towards his left arm again, where some of the cuts had reopened. He grunted quietly as he rewrapped the serpentine bandage. He had worn a bandage on that arm now for nearly three years. The bandages on his hands had been there longer even that that. He wanted to feel clean for Zelda or at the very least, cover up the scars on his hands before he touched her. As he suspected, she cared very little for all of that. As she did after every battle, she would hold his hands and kiss them and pronounce to him that they were now clean.

Zelda curled closer into her husband, burying herself in the warmth of muscle and uncovered flesh as she ran a careless hand down his bandaged arms. She let a tendril of magical energy probe Link's mind and found that it was in the same place it had been ten minutes ago. Her hand wandered down and clasped his, disappearing into its depths. Suddenly she felt his thoughts wander towards her and a very brief flash of shame accompanied it. She smiled widely into his chest: it always worked.

"I'm sorry," he said, feeling her smile, "I didn't mean to think about it again."

"It is fine, milord," she replied, moving upwards to nuzzle the sharp stubble at his cheek, "Will you tell me about it?"

He gave her hand a squeeze: "I just was thinking. Thinking about how long it will be before I can take these bandages off."

"Link, why do you do this to yourself? Please, milord, I would not wish that these hands must suffer for much longer."

"Sometimes I think it can only be this way, Zelda. I don't know why the goddesses blessed me with you and Ava. I don't know what their intentions are with me. Whether I am but a tool of fate or by some mad coincidence simply the most fortunate man of all, I feel sometimes I am unworthy of it. That a boy with a sword and a slingshot and a fistful of coins could dream of one day marrying a princess - it is a dream so fevered and half-baked I still cannot understand how it happened. Someday, Zelda, when I stand before our heavenly mothers, I pray I will have paid my debt to them in full, so as to be able to ask why I was given such providence."

As he held up his hands, Link felt her sink down and settle herself at the crook of his neck.

"All that I am depends on these pitiful things, Zelda. If I am to pay this most heavy of all debts, it will only be by these hands that I may do so. But they are yet too unwieldy, not strong enough, not fast enough, not hard enough. I think they are so pathetic at times. And that is why they must suffer: how else might they become worthy? What if one day, fate should have them put to the test? That you or Avalon might be taken away from me all too soon if these hands should fail? I will not suffer to owe any person such a debt, because such dealings often come with a terrible price. I cannot imagine even a fortunate life in which you do not exist. I love you so much, Zelda. Too much."

Zelda propped herself on his chest, her flowing mane covering both of their faces. Her lips danced ever so slightly over his before she chose her next words:

"Perhaps if you loved me so, Link, you would know that it makes me ill at ease the way you mistreat your hands," she drew up his left hand as she spoke, "They have proven their worth to me in every way that a woman could expect from her husband. They do not simply represent who you are, my love. I see so many wonderful things that they promise to hold for me: warmth, security, a boundless love so pure and deep I cannot fathom it. But each and every time you cut into them, Link, there is a little less room than the time before to hold such ideals. I worry that you still do not realize how much of me you hold in your hands and that the rougher you forge them, the less you have left to feel my presence."

She kissed him chastely once more.

"There is a spark of the divine in all of us, milord. It is freely given, because love is freely given. It is because our heavenly mothers love us so, that they breathed into us this life. It is not conditional, Link, we will do with it as we see fit. Live not your life in such oppression and worry that you might not pay back their gift, because it is also their wish that with this life, you might be able to appreciate all the other wondrous creations around you."

She traced his lips deeply with her own.

"There is a woman here that the Lady Nayru must have blessed also. She loves you as assuredly as the world does turn and will continue to do so long after the world does stop. If you do not believe now that your debt has been fulfilled, you will surely believe it after this night is over, my love."

She claimed his lips slowly as that final proclamation passed through to him.


	2. The Burning Man

**Chapter 2: The Burning Man**

* * *

**Author's Note: **It's not often that we come face to face with our own mortality. In this chapter, Link encounters a familiar face and shows us just why there are some truths we like to keep in the dark, especially from ourselves. There are references to BJ Franklin (- lolz), Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Valkyrie Profile 2, Atlus Shrugged, The Dark Knight and Dostoevsky. I will leave you to find out where I've "hidden" them. Enjoy.

Link smiled down at Zelda and Avalon as they walked, hand in hand, through the courtyards of the castle grounds. His wife had insisted that the family had some part of the day reserved with each other. Sometimes it was a simple walk, sometimes they would steal away from the castle and its machinations altogether. Link was a disciplined man in what he did, in principles that agreed with his ambitions, but really Link was a lazy man by nature and a dreamer by trade. He loved to be carefree and not know that at times (most times, that is), he was the crown prince of Hyrule. And he loved that Zelda understood and nurtured that aspect of him.

Zelda embraced her husband's arm as Avalon separated from the pair and ran ahead to chase the cuccos. It was not long ago that Link had come to the realization that the birds actually made for very good security and promptly had the whole castle perimeter littered with the monsters. She thought it was a bit much, but relented because his argument was so absurdly ridiculous that she knew there must have been some kernel of truth to it. The princess nuzzled closer. She did put up too much with this man-child she married.

"Zelda," he said quietly, clearing his throat in that fashion that never boded good news for her, "I've, um,..been approached by Prelate Vespermarc about the situation in Azerbiju."

"Yes?" she responded with narrowed eyes. She knew Link only referred to Deacon Vespermarc by title when he wanted to shrug some of the heat off of himself. Coward.

"Link, you know where Hyrule's official stance is with that city-state. We empathize with the loss of the Queen-Mother and the subsequent turmoil, but we can't appear to be influencing them by sending over convoys. Especially not with Escariot Despanya making his bid for election."

Link knew exactly what she meant by "we". Zelda always used that word when she really meant "I", and by "I", she always really meant "Zelda Ysanne Harkinian Valorious de Hyrule." Usually that meant it was the end of whatever discussion/hole he dug himself into.

He let out an exasperated sigh. "_Sweetheart_, Deacon and I are only suggesting a small contingent go and try to pacify the situation."

Zelda huffed suddenly and went into a cross-armed stance. She knew what that "sweetheart" meant, the one with the slightly condescending tone that never fit with the other times he used "sweetheart." She knew what he really meant was: "Zelda, I know Hyrule sends Azerbiju supplies to help them get through this crisis, so let's use that leverage to send a peace convoy and talk things over. Also, I am pig-headed and will send this convoy anyway."

"_We've_ discussed this with the council. The Riskbreakers have agents infiltrated in almost every kingdom on this continent and we know the abysmal view that most of them have with Hyrule. We simply can't seem to be interfering with every developing nation, Link."

Link knew what _that _"we" meant, the high pitched variation that always denoted that Zelda would respond next with physical aggravation. He knew that what she _really _meant to say was: "I will kill you from one moment to the next if you don't drop this subject."

She interjected before he could respond, "Please, my love, I know the man you are. And I know you just want to settle the situation so the people of Hyrule don't have to be concerned that the violence is so close to their borders. And I know that you have Azerbiju's best interest at heart, even if it means you must make them see the way. But the Riskbreakers have carefully profiled Lord Despanya and I know the type of man he yearns to be: the petty type that wants nothing more than to etch a name in history, to carve and brand it into the skins of its people. He will not abide nor tolerate any interference by a party sent from us."

"Zelda, that is _exactly _the reason why I want this charter sent. A man so easily seduced by power will not stop to understand how to control it. How can I let those people be taken in by this rogue? All he sings to them are ballads promising too many lies."

She stood on tip-toes to caress his face and pull him down to her eye level. "Link. You will do what any man must when he cannot come to terms with what his soul denies. You must do nothing. I know that you care for these people and that if you have the resources, why should you not help them? But people need to learn how to make mistakes, just as they must learn how to avoid them. Escariot Despanya never was the problem. If anything, he will likely be the catalyst that allows Azerbiju to reform itself. Men are created to stand and they are free to fall, my love, and both of these things must happen for life to prevail."

Link shut his eyes tightly as he nuzzled her with his nose. "How do I let them fall into the hands of this madness? I can get rid of Despanya and we can annex Azerbiju and make it safe for them. We won't ask them for their flags and we won't hedge on their provinces and they lose nothing more or less than what the Queen-Mother gave them. It will take a little time for them to adjust to our system, but we can facilitate that easily. I can help them, Zelda."

The princess caressed his lips with her own. "People who sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither and have none. I won't impose a system on Azerbiju unless they sanction it first with their own compromises and can accept Hyrule for what it is. In the end, it must be always be a sliding scale that requires balance."

Zelda gazed deeply into those blue eyes that she had fallen in love with. "Link. I will let you do this because I would be a hypocrite to not heed my own words. Please consider it carefully and if you still feel strongly about it, take Mathias and the Prelate to accompany you."

Her voice dropped just a few decibels as she whispered her next words. "You know how I feel about this, milord. That it tears me to shreds each time you step outside these castle walls without me and Ava, much less outside the jurisdiction of Hyrule. My heart is with you, whatever you decide."

And with that, she pulled him into a deep kiss. He knew that particular kiss and he knew exactly what she really meant to say.

* * *

Prelate Vespermarc wiped his brow with his gauntlet as he spurred his mare on. It was an overall miserable day and he did not relish what was to come at the end of this road. The paladin looked cautiously back at the stretcher being carried by four of his knights, as if daring to hope that things had changed since he last checked only seconds before. But, no, the crown prince laid deathly still, as he had for the past two days, with the maw of a gaping wound in his torso, covered surreptitiously by many rolls of bandages and cloth. Link had finished what he promised: he ended Escariot Despanya's life and left him screaming as loudly exiting the world as he did entering it. But the toll was high and the prince was felled in the end, holding Lord Despanya's guards at bay - all seven of them. Prelate Vespermarc reflexively grimaced as he focused once more on the road. No, he did not relish the trip home to Hyrule castle at all, or its awaiting princess.

* * *

Link opened his eyes briefly as he scanned his environment. It was so strange, he thought, that the last thing he remembered was passing out from the crazy mix of blood loss and pain. But, as he stood up and scanned his own body, there were no signs or traces of either; and, quite actually, he felt a sort of euphoria, a dizzy-headedness that somehow felt right for where he was. Wherever that was: it was all just a medley of grays and blacks and mist and haze.

"Do you like it?" a deep voice sounded out, "I haven't had much time to do anything with the place - only all of eternity."

Reflexively, Link's hand went for his sword, but found that it was missing, as were all his other various tools of trade. He looked questioningly in the general direction of the voice.

"Oh, you won't need those here," the voice sounded closer and Link could start discerning a figure coming from the fog, "You are allowed only what you need. And I just need you to listen."

"Tell me who you are, stranger," Link hailed, suddenly feeling very awkward for using that word.

From the mist emerged a figure, a sort of shadow cloaked in nothing but darkness. The "man's" outline looked hauntingly like his own, as if a mirror were separating the two. And, yet, Link knew that it was ridiculous to feel a familiarity with this figure, because it was like staring into the lingering abyss of empty space. The only discerning feature Link could make out were the eyes, which were nothing more than bright red rubies.

"Who _I_ am?" the voice appearing to come from this "man", although Link could not see where the words formed. "Who I am is not important just yet. We are simply here to know who _you _are."

A sudden realization came to Link just then and he had not wanted or was in more need of his weapons than at that time.

"I remember you. I fought you, long ago, I killed you. It was in the water temple."

That made no sense at all to Link, now that he thought about it. This was no doubt that same figure he battled with during that quest, nothing could deny it. But how could he have forgotten his own shadow?

"Yes...," the man responded wistfully, the voice wavering off, "Yes, I think I remember that time. But it has been so long. I don't know. Perhaps whatever that fiend, Ganondorf, did to fracture me from you also impaired our memory of each other."

"Why am I here?" Link asked, feeling no malice from his former opponent, "I thought I had died on that battlefield."

"Oh, no, brother. I would not let you pass from existence so easily. I have waited a long time to speak to you and I will not let such a figure as Death rob that opportunity from me."

"What is it you want?"

"There seems to be a terrible void between the two of us, Link. A chasm I cannot bridge though I've spent my existence doing so. It is the maddening and inescapable truth that what drives you is not the same as what drives me.

Some men want to change the world, some men suffer the delusions that it can be saved and healed. These men go to their graves driven by this madness. This world is not unjust or harsh, although it may seem it at times. We project unto each other our problems and create our own hate and misfortune. But who ends up shouldering the blame in the end: the world? fate? chaos? chance?...God?" the shadow chuckled deeply, "They are convenient, to be sure, and they are faceless so we suffer no conflicts of interest when we hate on them. But I will tell you that we are not creatures of fate, destined to plod through life along a path determined by those greater than us. We cannot absolve ourselves of fault so easily: this bedlam we have created is ours by choice and chaos is ours by vice. After all, 'destiny by sinner sought, tragedy by power wrought.' Escariot Despanya did not know this and it led him to a glorious death, as did Lord Dragmire before him, as will many others to be slain by your own hand. Why do you continue to suffer, knowing that every man slain gives rise to two other men willing to live and die by this pursuit? Men do not seek the shortest path to destruction, but we find ourselves bound irrevocably by it."

"You think you know these people," Link stated curiously, "How can you deny fate if your argument is that men can be so easily predicted? That their choices will always lead them to inevitable failure? They live for today because they know tomorrow can bring something better. Life cannot be contained by theorem, life exists because it thrives on the chance to break free and do exactly what cannot be predicted. Life advances because it must always find a way."

"Liar!" the figure exclaimed loudly, almost gleefully as he laughed, "You miserable liar. Oh, I do not doubt that Life progresses as you predict, but _people _do not. You know, as certainly as I, that precedent has already been set. Men cannot learn from history. They try so fruitlessly to escape from the shadows of their fathers and in so doing commit all sorts of travesties to that end."

He chuckled mirthlessly as he spoke his next words. "History is the cycle of man because it was created by men, because it has seen the beginning and will see the end of men. I don't need to live to the end of days to know how this kingdom will fall - this world has seen too many like it.

Many people misunderstand me, child. People think that because I exist as your shadow, I will find satisfaction in random mayhem and those inconsequential acts of violence; to undo what you have done, to disturb the peace you have brought to these lands. Really, I am just like you: I just want to change this kingdom and show these people how precious is their next breath."

The shadow leaned forward to further emphasize what he had to say. "Link, I just want to see this reality destroyed: utterly and completely. If this land cannot appreciate the life that was given to it, well...I will push it to the brink of its existence and let them gaze into the abyss that they inevitably march towards. People can be noble, Link, and I will not deny it. But they cannot know it until they have found a reason to love life. Will you be the one to stop me? You save the world, in hopes that a future generation will live it with a just and fair hand; I will bring these people to their knees, because this world deserves a better fate. You must appreciate that in the end I truly help these people. I give them hope, as you do, before I steal their lives from them."

"People need to realize they are alive!" the shadow gestured and laughed, as if it were the most wonderful thing of all, "That from one second to the next, they can be _this _close to not existing and then are breathed into them a spark of beauty. But I must take it from them, anyway. I have seen many kingdoms rise and fall and follow the ebb of history; there are people that simply do not learn and will never appreciate the lessons you give them."

Link pitied the figure just then and wondered how it was that such a mind could have spawned from him. "And what about those that would have learned? Would you steal away their lives and not give them the benefit of the doubt?"

"If I value what I fight for?" his counterpart shrugged carelessly, "Yes. There must always be martyrs. That they become so by their own choice is sometimes not relevant."

This enraged our hero to no end. "They are innocent people! I have suffered to bring them peace and I will not stand idly by while you talk of them as pawns."

"Oh, _don't_ call them innocent," the other spit vehemently, "At best they are fickle, at worst, they are mindless fishies that only follow the current. They may respect you, perhaps, they may even revere you. But to earn it, you had to sacrifice everything; to become a symbol of invincibility, a giant on whose shoulders' they could stand and feel safe. But they didn't do it themselves and they accept no accountability for it. Do you know how easy it is for them to turn on you? They know not what you suffered and are too inherently jealous of what you are. You cannot have peace, because that is exactly what you gave to this kingdom."

"People need to feel safe," Link rebuked, "It is a basic human need by which all other human conditions can be met. How can people pursue life if they must live in fear of it? It is true that I have spent many years in their service and I have seen many facets that gnaw at the souls of men. But they are not looking for a savior to lift them to a pedestal, or an Atlus to hold up their world. These symbols are singular and they can be broken, and people do not need to know they are so vulnerable. They just need a foundation on which to build happiness. Perhaps I can only provide the illusion of a blanket of safety, but perhaps that is all they need. I am content with it and I am not bitter that I must be the one to do it."

"Then you are nothing more than a gun, a tool, and the worst kind at that: knowingly used and blindly led. What will history remember you as, Link? Will history remember you at all?"

Link shook his head gently. "History creates heroes and villains, but life requires neither and men do not suffer to await them. It's not about becoming a name or leaving a legacy. The souls of men are inherently restless, I know; they are undisciplined, forged by violence and irrational and always quick to the cut. You have expunged to me that their nature is flawed and dangerous and egotistic, but I know that it can be capable of nobility and a dreaming, boundless love. I will tell you that _that _is the most beautiful quality of man that will save them. 'Beauty will save the world.' "

He frowned as he pointed to his shadow. "What is this to you, anyway? If you already that the core truth between you and I are worlds apart, why do you believe you can change it?"

Again his counterpart gestured with his hands. "This is all an elaborate game, brother. We will play for the souls of those you have saved, because between us there are no other conflicts.

These people you protect, these unworthy creatures who cannot know and will not fathom what monsters they truly are, they have not had a chance to corrupt you enough. And that is truly the game isn't it? That you will not idly stand by and watch me destroy this land, but that I would so assuredly stand by to watch this land destroy _you_. I don't need to defeat you by hand and I don't need to reduce you to insanity to win this game, Link. I just need you to stop caring. And that is why you must live today, my friend. This kingdom can lose you from one moment to the next; they will mourn and they will cry, but ultimately, it will be brief and they will deal with it. But now is not the time for _me _to lose you, because you haven't lived enough life to be crushed by it. Your will to endure for them is yet too strong and the strength of your conviction to life is yet too great. But time will make fools of us all."

"I see life in these people every day," Link objected plainly, "I speak to them as you have not. You know men from the histories of long dead bones and crumbled empires, I know men from suffering alongside them and sharing their plight and sharing their dreams. Tell me this kingdom is not worth saving, because I know you've not the truth to validate it. If time and history are as you say, then I too will follow the flow of life: this world has seen many men like you and has survived to repeat that cycle. You can be defeated as much as I and if it must come to that terrible price, I will be most glad to pay it."

The shadow nodded slowly, as if the acceptance had been a long time coming. "Then so be it, brother. When next we meet, I will enjoy taking all you have left to cherish in this world. Yes, I will."

And with that, the mist and haze began to swirl around Link, and he started to feel those familiar aches and pains afflict him. His clothes and armor started tearing exactly where his wounds re-opened and the blood that flowed spread around him, mixing wondrously with the spiral of the dream world. The shadow's voice was distant as he too faded to oblivion, but the words reverberated strongly through his ears.

You must get up!

You are Ranlink Valorious de Hyrule, Iron Prince of North Castle. You are a Godchild, a son of greater beings than those you serve. I will not release you to Death!

Fight, Link!

Get up!

Stand and fight!


	3. The Ghostmate

**Chapter 3: The Ghostmate**

* * *

**Author's Note:** This chapter is long and the first half is more character development than anything else. I do feel though that it is one of the better chapters I wrote recently, given the context. References include LOTR: The Two Towers, Bram Stoker, many chess references and _China Men_ by Maxine Hong Kingston. This is actually a very rough draft and I uploaded it pretty late at night, so it may be riddled with errors/plot holes. Please let me know if that is the case.

"Not enough," Link whispered to himself. "We need more time."

He purveyed the field through slit eyes: scanning, analyzing, hoping upon hope that he could find the tactical lapse in his enemy's offensive. All around him arrows were hissing by, metals clashing and the air burnt with the taste of magical energy and hellfire. And yet all he could focus on was the screaming of heroes fallen and sons who knew too few years of life and husbands who had not yet returned home to see their families fully grown. It was not enough and it was too much.

Link reared up Epona and slashed his way across the scrimmage line as he surveyed the damage left to be done. In the distance, he saw Prelate Vespermarc rampaging and carving a swath of remains through the eastern front. Our hero shook his head at the sight: how a man like that ended up an apostle of the church was ever beyond him. Even so, the Prelate's efforts were wasted, as his unit had dwindled down to only a handful of paladins fending off the onslaught of the never ending horde in front of them.

A voice shook Link out of his thoughts, piercing strongly through the confusion and maelstrom:

"Hold the line, gods-damn you! Knights form up on me, you jackanapes. Dragoons and lancers to the scrimmage right the hell now!"

Mathias Helsinger was barking out orders as he shuffled through the crowd to Link, quickly lining up his troops. The baron was a recently promoted brigadier commander with the Knights of the Peace and a rising young talent with a nearly peerless tactical mind. He grew up a childhood friend of Zelda's in the Hylian court and developed quite a rivalry with her on the battlefield. The two often quarreled in the war room over stratagems and historic battalion movements. Mathias had yet to win any of these arguments. It was always the pride of his Lordship Harkinian that his daughter could outmatch all his generals and field commanders in the art of war.

"My prince," the baron hailed with a nod, "we cannot hold that ridge much longer. They have already fielded their mobile armor and we still have no defense against their mages. If we stay here another minute, I will be sending home more letters than men."

"She'll be here," Link said adamantly, "We just need to give Zelda a little more time. Even turning back now would do no good. The men will be too exhausted to make it to the outpost and we have no sufficient means of reinforcement once we reach there anyway."

"The princess is already on her way," Mathias objected, "We will not need to cover our retreat all the way back to the outpost. I daresay Lady Zelda with two or three armored units and a handful of knights will be _more_ than enough to hold back this army until we reach mobile command."

Link smirked at that. "I don't doubt your assessment, Mathias. But she'll be arriving to _this_ battlefield with more than that. We can back them all the way out of Three Miles and send them home with more than just a sore ego."

"And how do you suggest we do this, milord?"

Mathias then mockingly joined in with the prince's reply, in perfect synchronization: "I have a plan."

Link looked at him pointedly, "My plans almost always work, Mathias. I don't know why you take such offense to them."

"Do you remember the fiasco at Tempus?"

"Now, wait a minute, Deacon assured me that disguise would work."

Mathias half-rolled his eyes. "Yes, of course, it's not as if _he_ ever got you into any trouble before. What about the time Zelda had to pull the both of you out of that mess at Mycephen?"

"She just arrived at the right time to look the hero, else we might have made out like bandits - a few more scratches, yes, but alive nonetheless."

"Concordi River."

Link raised his hands in objection. "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Remorrah."

"That was just an unfortunate example of a peace talk gone wrong."

"Stromguarde."

Link gave him a sour expression. "Alright, I'll admit fault for the first and second occasion, but after that third episode there was only one other skirmish at Stromguarde where I was in over my head."

Mathias sighed as he pinched the bridge between his eyes: "And of course, I will never live down Jejuka Minor, you rogue. The very thought of Zelda saving us from that piss poor excuse of an army will never be forgotten."

Our hero smiled toothily, "Oh, Mathias, I'll never forget the look on your face as we were being chased out. You almost look it now."

The young baron could not help but chuckle at that. "Well, milord, what is your brilliant plan?"

Link gestured to the skirmish in front of them. "Your lancers have just enough to attempt a king's gambit with the open right flank. Our enemy has sacrificed much to gain control of the center of that ridge and we should be well advised to continue letting him live under that illusion."

"I know what a king's gambit is, you rancorous shag-haired lay-about!" Mathias yelled, flinging his arms for emphasis, "Don't you think they held back those reinforcements for a reason? If I so much as sneeze loud enough, they would respond with more men to push us out of the middle."

"Shag-haired?" Link scratched his head, "Zelda cuts my hair, you loose-legged poxy whore!"

"Make light of my promiscuous nightly ventures, will you?" Mathias asked pointedly, "Would that I had the time to exchange barbs with you, you animated offal."

Link spread his arms in invitation. "I encourage all attempts on my life and ego, you spongy ill-bred lewdster. In the meanwhile, Deacon and I will hold the left flank until such time that you can divert enough of their vanguard to your feint. I need but one clear shot towards the middle ground and their field marshal, Mathias."

"The two knights maneuver is blind arrogance when used offensively, milord. Once you move behind that vanguard, you and Lord Vespermarc will be alone and open to attack by both their reinforcements and the central infantry structure. I cannot agree with this."

"Brave men making brave choices often have little recourse."

"I fail to see how speaking of brave men has anything to do with you," Mathias quipped, giving a mirthless chuckle before leaning forwards to grip Link by the gauntlet, "Sacrifice is not the only course of valor today, my lord. We can still retreat and become victors another time."

Link smiled as he reared Epona up and started moving towards Deacon Vespermarc. "She will be here, Lord Helsinger."

* * *

Link had just started to push his flanking maneuver when Zelda arrived to the battlefield and was far ahead of the pack by the time the princess joined forces with Mathias.

"Lord Helsinger," she addressed the baron, slightly annoyed, "Why does my husband think he can assault the enemy by his lonesome? And why in the name of the Goddesses did you let him?"

"Milady," he bowed his head quickly, "As his keeper, I was hoping you would arrive sooner to prevent that from happening. You married less a man of reason and more a force of nature."

She laughed amicably. "A soul as his cannot be tempered, Mathias. It is forged by the fires of Farore and, bless Her, the woman didn't know where to stop when She created his stubborn streak. I wonder at times that it should ever be anything less. It is odd and strange that such recklessness explains why his baiting maneuver worked here."

"How did you know the formation was his?"

Zelda signaled her archers into place. "You are too defensive minded for the king's gambit this late into the fray, commander. The wiser move would have been to either withdraw completely or _fianchetto _your archers closer to Deacon and pull the scrimmage line back."

Mathias grimaced slightly at her evaluation. "I will admit I did not think to use the archers in that fashion. I opted to retreat though Link was against it. What I don't understand is why the move worked for him. The enemy has the reinforcements to cut off the prince, yet they reserve them."

"It is likely my husband did not think of that alternative either, but the Goddesses will always keep and bless him. Meanwhile, the opposing army reserves too much of its forces to protect their field marshal and instead depend entirely on the central infantry structure to do all the work. That school of thought is antiquated and will likely be their downfall this day."

Mathias nodded in understanding as he pointed to the troops heading out to meet Link's assault. "With your consent, milady, I will advance the dragoons on this flank to cut off their retreat vector."

The princess unsheathed her blade in response and pointed it towards the Hylian mobile armor marching across the horizon.

"I have already taken care of it, Lord Helsinger – it's the reason I'm late to this soirée. You will pull the scrimmage line back and break flank to join Link. I will take care of the central infantry."

Just as he was about to question how she would do it with the small force she brought with her, Mathias could see her eyes clouding over with magical fire and the air suddenly became dense around him with dread. Quietly at first and exponentially fiercer with each passing second, the wind picked up around the princess as she gathered what he could only imagine were ungodly amounts of energy. Presently the current of air shrieking and coiling around Zelda became so loud as to frighten Mathias' steed a few paces back. Without warning, a sonic wave boomed across the battlefield as the princess discharged the mounting energy towards the skies in a defiant scream against the heavens.

Lord Helsinger looked up in time to see the clouds darken and large comets start raining down in front of him with the force of a thousand suns. In all he counted five boulders that slammed into the ground, shaking the very core of all combatants on the field and dispersing so much debris into the air that it was difficult for him to see his own hands. With a slow groan and the rumble of rock sliding upon rock, the boulders started to unravel until they became giant hulking behemoths with brimstone eyes and gloriously murderous auras.

By the time, Mathias had recovered from his awe, Zelda had already charged past him and was leading her colossuses into battle.

* * *

It was the waning moments of the battle and the Hylian forces had all but routed the enemy behind the masterful directions of Zelda and Mathias. Link had been unable to reach the field marshal, who had pulled further back behind his defenses after seeing the princess finish her summoning. Watching his units mop up the remaining stragglers, Link had all but let out a sigh of relief when he heard Zelda's cry piercing through the commotion:

"Verus incendia!"

She was pointing to the general direction behind him and as Link turned his head, he could see a circle of battle mages with one focal master in the middle. They had begun casting what seemed to be a powerful spell judging by the inordinate amount of time and hand flailing they were devoting to it.

"Rally on me!" Zelda cried, already beginning her own counterspell.

Whatever it was, Link thought, if it worried a mage as powerful as his wife, that spell was definitely going to cover a lot of ground. As he saw his own troops scrambling back to Zelda, he could see that a fair amount of them were far too close in proximity to the enemy wizards and would surely be caught up in its wake. Spurring Epona on, he gave Zelda one last glance as he sped on to take out the focal master.

He heard Zelda call out "Aegis" as he finished closing the distance he needed. Switching to his _lupara_ and centering the gun at the focal master, Link was about to pull the trigger when the group unleashed their spell. A blinding light sparked from the group and sent forth a powerful wave, knocking Link off Epona just as he let out both barrels from his shotgun.

The last thing he heard was Zelda crying out his name.

* * *

When he came to, Link was a hundred feet from the nearest conscious soul. In the distance, he could see that the enemy was far into their retreat and that the Hylian army was beginning to pick itself up from that last spell. It was so decidedly strange, Link thought as he pulled himself to his feet: he was not hurt in the least from any effects from the spell and even the fall from Epona did not seem to cause too much damage. Around him, several of the men were beginning to regain conscious, although they were slower to get up.

"Milord," Mathias addressed him as the baron and Deacon approached Link.

The prince definitely did not like this one bit. Mathias could not seem to look him in the eye and the Prelate did not have his usual booming personality post-battle. They both were walking too heavily to be giving him naught but ill news.

"Milord, we found Zelda," Mathias said nervously, "Link, I am truly sorry, but…the princess has fallen. The clerics tried saving her, milord, they did; they tried resuscitating her as well, though you know elven souls are difficult charges. We just…could not find her in time."

Link recoiled in disbelief, his eyes flickering between Mathias and Deacon. The latter could not speak and only when their eyes met could Link see the grief in them.

"No," the prince shook his head, bile rising in his throat, "No. Don't tell me this, Mathias."

"I-I thought she had finished casting the counterspell and was in its protective field – there should have been no reason for her fall, Link."

Link could no longer breathe though his blood raged fierce. "Where is she, you fiend? Where is my wife?"

Deacon looked to the distance behind him, where a group of knights were kneeling with their heads bowed.

"Milord, please…"

He was not given the chance to finish as Link bull-rushed the two men, nearly knocking them over as if they were not there at all. The two could only watch in pity as their prince ran to his fallen lover. It was true that both men were married but even so, they could not expect to be able to understand the sudden tumult of emotions culminating in their friend.

"Ever has his life been bereft of peace," Deacon said, kneeling down and finding his prayer beads, "Alas that his reward for victory this day should also be his curse and that a love so young should also end that way. I will pray for her soul, friend Mathias, as should you. But I will pray more for his forgiveness, because terrible will be the vengeance that his broken heart seeks and awful the price to be paid in the dark days this way come."

When Link arrived at her body, he had to take a step back and look away from the unearthly grace and pale beauty that was his wife. He shook his head in disbelief, though the burden of his eyes could not shut out what laid bare in front of him. When finally the courage was able to quell his violent illness, Link opened his eyes to see his wife: a halo of blonde tresses around her, the only heir of the now broken house of Harkinian.

"How did it come to this?" Link whispered coarsely, his eyes brimming over as he dropped to his knees and shook her arms gently, "Zelda – my love, please. This is not how it ends…"

"I am sorry, milord," Mathias said, though he knew his friend could not hear him, "My arcane magic is not as well spoken as the princess's. I can only tell you that _Verus incendia_ was a very powerful spell with varying random effects depending on the caliber of the soul it touches. Her counterspell saved countless of lives this day, my friend. Few walk away with nothing more than hallucinations or temporary blindness."

Link said nothing, though his back trembled with great emotion. Instead, he scooped up his young wife gingerly, pausing to choke back a sob and started towards the medical camp without a word said to anyone.

"Where is the trumpet and the glory?" Mathias asked softly to himself as he watched his Lordship walk away, "Where is the horse and the banner? Lament this evil hour that the Hero should meet alone and all his companions and all the king's men were nothing but whispers in the face of sorrow."

* * *

In the days that followed, it seemed the dawn never broke for Hyrule, such was the grief for their lost princess. The king was bed-ridden from the moment he looked upon Link, who had come to deliver the news, and bed-ridden he remained afterwards, abandoning his throne with little speculation that he would ever recover. Impa retreated to her temple to contemplate the loss of a daughter she never had and on that day the citadel of darkness became rank with anger and despair. The Hylian war machine lay in ruin, their morale brought to its knees by the lost of the charismatic and undefeated champion. All the denizens of North Castle put their business aside for one week, as was customary for the grieving ceremony, yet the market place was remorse to restart its daily bustle after that, knowing the throne of Hyrule was in such disarray. Indeed, they were darker days than even the Prelate had predicted.

And, expectedly, none but the prince was more affected. For days at a time he would not eat and shut out all others to the point of having the entire east wing of the castle to himself. Only his daughter Avalon remained by his side, though she could not fully understand why her father had taken to crying himself to sleep and wondered, deep in her heart of hearts, why her mother could not walk through that door and make the hurting stop. How could he explain to her? That Zelda was no more and that his daughter would never feel her mother's hand on her cheek; that there would be no others to sing to her the lullaby of sleepless nights and that there would be no more purple eyes to await her when she woke up the next morning. These were not answers his soul could find, nor would his tongue be keen to say.

On that particular day, Link was by Zelda's casket, which had not yet been interred, still asking it those impossible questions. He did not expect to hear an answer.

"Death is not always an easy step, my love, just a necessary one on the way to a greater path."

Link nearly fell over as he turned around, the _lupara_ already pointed towards the speaker. It was not often people were able to approach him unheard. What he saw was a young woman, pale in skin and dark in hair and entirely not Zelda. She was dressed very simply and upon looking into her green eyes, Link felt an undeniable shiver run down his spine.

"Who are you?"

She laughed a frivolous, lilting sound.

"Are you always so charming?"

"I am necessarily so to strangers who evade questions as they do castle security."

Her smile remained nonetheless. "I am Freya and you are Link and this meeting has been a long time in coming."

His eyes narrowed and his gun hand never wavered. "I do not know that your familiarity with me makes you any less a threat."

Before he could continue, she had already reached out to lower the shotgun herself. This meant to Link that she was either quite mad or so familiar with the concept of death that she did not fear it. Link sighed tiredly as he holstered the weapon, consoling himself with the possibility that this woman could at least keep his mind preoccupied from the darker notions he had of late.

"Why are you here, Freya? I knew you not before this very hour."

She did not answer immediately, instead leaning over to run a soft touch over the stubble on his face.

"You are far more beautiful than I had imagined."

Link gently, but firmly, moved her hand away and bore into her with his eyes.

"A lover's touch is sacred, milady. It is not reserved for you."

Freya did not take this discouragingly and on the contrary, seemed more amused than not.

"You have been mine since I first learned of you, Ranlink Valorious; and I have been yours long before I took my first breath. That this will be our first and only meeting should not end so abruptly."

"As I lack charm, so do you lack meaning," Link retorted caustically, "Explain who you are."

"You have traveled and adventured far, my prince. Do you know the myths in the east about how life came to be in this world?"

"We have many legends on the origin of life, milady. Truths that we cannot explain linger and become nothing more than stories we tell our children."

She smiled enchantingly. "It is not the first or the last you will hear, Link – just the most relevant to us.

"It is the story of our overgod, Ao. It's been said that when he first created his children, he wanted them to know that he would always love them though they might not always feel his divine presence. To prevent them from meandering through life alone, looking for a love that might never be reciprocated, our lord blessed his children with two souls. Each of the souls complimented each other perfectly, such that they would never walk this world without a companion close to their heart.

But such a paradise was not meant to last. When his children evolved, developing great city-states and wondrous empires and great technical marvels, they started questioning their father. They had become such great inventors and creators in their own right that never once did they doubt their own egos. They felt that it was time for them to face their own creator and ask him why they were made the way they were: weak and fragile bodies, limited strength and mortal. Ao became mad at this and that was a terrible vengeance, as he was the only god capable of being angry at his own creations.

But most of all he became enraged that his children no longer cared about each other, for they had fallen in love with their own image. Why did they need physical companionship or society? After all, in their darkest of times, they could always turn to their companion soul to find love. They had become self-sufficient, it was true, but had done so in such a way as to mock the true intention of why they were created: to find love amongst each other. Ao felt that he had betrayed his own vision and blamed himself most of all.

So it was with a heavy heart that he punished his children. From each, he ripped away the companionship soul, leaving each person born wounded and empty from their first breath. It was a decidedly fair and harsh sentence. From then on, each of his children wandered blind through life, seeking validation in the arms of each other. It was true love they sought but never once could they know which soul was the one that they had truly lost and would make them whole."

Link chewed on the inside of his cheek as he contemplated her story, a comfortable silence falling between the two figures.

"And you believe that the eternal search for your life mate has led you to me?"

Freya smiled once more. "Do you realize, milord, how impossible such a search would be given one's lifespan? Many people who know and believe this myth forget that gods exist in a dimension we cannot even fathom. The only aspect between us and them that we are allowed to understand is time. When Ao created his children, he had already seen who they were and who they would be. He knew their flaws, but decided to dream of them anyway. And when he separated the souls, he separated them in time as well as proximity. What a torturous existence: that two souls could be separated by only an arm's length but also by 1,000 years' time."

"You still have not answered my question," Link snorted, "And if you are suggesting what I think you are, then you are even more mad than I had first thought."

"I am indeed suggesting that very thing," she said with glee, "And you are every bit as clever as I had dreamt."

She smiled again and reached out to grasp his hand. "Do not deny what you feel, milord. It is familiarity, it is completeness, it is not being alone, it is the feeling that everything is right and it is what you had with Zelda."

Link wrenched away his hand at her mention. "Do not speak lightly of the dead and tread softly while you are on such hallowed grounds."

Nevertheless, she closed the little distance between the two of them and returned his smoldering gaze with her own.

"Freya died over 1200 years ago, Link. Her body was buried in that forgotten stretch of land known as Three Miles – where you battled and knew lost. She was born alone and died that way, heartbroken with no legacy. Do _not_ lecture her about the dead."

It was strange that such an admission finally put Link at rest and for the first time he relaxed at the sight of Freya.

"Why are you not at peace, milady?"

"When I passed into the elven Sanctuary, I was given a choice: to continue my journey into the beyond or to wait for my loved ones so we could take the journey together. As I never knew such a love, I decided to wait and wander these lands in search of my life mate. I just wanted so desperately to know that such a soul existed and was created for me.

All my life did I search, in vain did I wander from the arms of men who were too young or too old to know the difference between love and lust. I knew many suitors in my day and was too convinced that I knew absolutely what I was missing. But for all my worldliness, I was a dreamer who had lost sight of where my life was to be and as a pragmatic woman I could lose sight of where my dreams would lie.

When I was younger, I knew a writer – a bookkeeper who was very poor and sold all sorts of odds and ends to survive to write the next day. It was his passion. He too was a suitor though I spurned him often. One day I offered to buy all his books if he would stop pursuing me. I saw that it hurt him to have such a definitive answer, but finally he relented. I never thought of him again, nor read any of his books until it was too late.

When finally I married, it was to a very selfish man and abusive a husband as a lover. He lived a rotten life, of such hedonism and idle sins and lost ambition that it crushed me to know how wrong I had been in loving him. By that time I had acknowledged that I was simply too much in love with being in love, but by then my life was but a shell of what it should have been. All I had left was the pursuit of a love that could complete me. It was a quest that would ultimately consume everything I had left.

A man came to me one day; he was a very poor and was selling books to find enough money for food. He told me that he had once been a writer but an unsuccessful one and he had lost much of his family and fortune pursuing this selfish endeavor. Because my husband gave me very little money, I could not afford to do more for this beggar than to buy his books from him – for he would not accept donations. I was so afraid to read his work, Link, because I knew he was the very same man I had turned away in my youth. This man, whose life was spent pursuing the very thing that became his doom reminded me too much of myself. I feared to see my soul reflected in his writing.

Oh, but he wrote so beautifully, Link; everything he had written down were truths I had been searching for. All my life did I carry those books with me and never once did I know a dormant love laid waiting in those dusty tomes. The last book he wrote was the myth of Ao and when I read it I nearly broke."

She looked down at her feet just then, as if somehow a 1200 year old ghost could be embarrassed at her next words.

"You are right, Link. 'Truths that we cannot explain, linger.' That is why I am here: just a spirit with wanderlust, waiting for the truth all this time. I had been waiting for you long ago, thinking that it would not be out of the question for you to step into the beyond with me. But when you found Zelda, I finally understood why Ao punished us the way he did. To find love in his creations is the reason we are alive. The depths of your heart when you look upon your wife are proof enough that Ao did not curse us at all. That was what I had so long ago but failed to see. Chasing a dream is an admirable quality, but chasing one blindfolded to the exclusion of all else is foolishness."

Freya took both his hands and brought them up to her cheeks, where Link could see tears starting to collect. She kissed them softly, savoring their warmth – a wondrous heat she had not known for over a millennium.

"I know why they call you the Hero of Courage. I have seen you near death's door so many times and seen your soul fight and claw its way back. It had been your love for life that allowed you to persist when you were younger and just fighting for the blade and thrill of the unknown. Now it is for a family that your unconquered spirit yearns for and wishes to return to. Would that I had that same truth awaiting me at the gates of the elven Sanctuary, but my time has lingered much. This is the end, my love, and it too has been a long time coming."

Link held her hands tenderly, though a confused look crossed his face.

"My spirit returning to whom, Freya? I don't understand."

She was already starting to fade away and before she did so she wrapped her arms around him, the feathery wisps barely registering as a touch at all.

"Link…"

* * *

"Link…"

"…milady, are you…"

"…he's breathing…"

"Link!"

The prince sat up with a start, the blinding light of day harsh in his eyes. Before he had acclimated, a soft touch ran down his cheek and turned his attention to the heart-rending familiar purple eyes he had known for so long.

"I know you," he finally said, though his voice rasped from the dry heat.

Zelda choked back a sob as she enveloped her husband tightly, almost forcing the breath out of him.

"You fool of a knight. Must you always be so proud to fall in battle?"

He returned her embrace as fierce he could, though he was still too weak to understand what had fully happened.

"I have fallen in many battles, milady. I take pride in my form when I do so."

As she helped him stand up, Link could see that he was still on the same battlefield at Three Miles. Standing vigil around him and Zelda were the colossuses his wife had summoned, and farther back some of the Hylian forces had set up a medical tent for triage. In the distance, he could see Mathias and Deacon chasing off the retreating enemy force.

Link rubbed his temple in an effort to assuage the pounding headache. "What happened?"

"You killed the focal master," Zelda said, gesturing to the body a few yards in front of him, sans head from the gunshot, "but the battle group had already finished casting their spell. You were not under my counterspell at the time."

As she finished, she hit him none too softly in his side. Link feigned the injury so he could bend down and kiss his wife, though it was likely she was not convinced at his efforts to appease her. It did not take long before the princess finished helping her husband towards one of the medical tents, where a soft cot invited him with its embrace. He was about to lie down when a mild breeze picked up and wandered through the tent, brushing pass Link with a soothing comfort.

"Farore must have been watching over you," Zelda said, wiping the moisture from her eyes, "That spell might have easily taken you from me."

Link stopped just then, remembering his conversation with Freya.

"Somebody _was_ watching over me," he said, caressing her lips with his own, "But nothing takes me away from you unless I give it permission."

She sighed against him, her breath mingling and hot with his own. "Your charm will not always save you from me, Link. I wonder sometimes why the goddesses choose to save you if they must send you back to my wrath."

He laughed despite himself and pulled Zelda onto the cot with him, shifting so they could both lie comfortably.

"Let me tell you about the myth of Ao, my love."


End file.
